The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

HISTORICAL accounts of the past and moments of the present are told through artwork featured in “Stories”, an art showcase at the Liquid Courage Art Gallery.

Stories is a joint exhibition featuring the work of Bahamian artist Maxwell Taylor and Guyana native Dennis de Caires, held as part of the Transforming Spaces art tour this past weekend.

Subject matters that are familiar to Caribbean people are prevalent in the work of both artists. Caires and Taylor exhibit prints in “Stories”, however their processes are different.

Taylor uses a technique called woodblock printing. It is a method for printing text, images and patterns on textiles or paper.

Taylor who works between the Bahamas and Florida said he spent a tremendous amount of time working on the prints that are featured in the show. They depict the mortgage crisis, the Burma Road Riot and the significance of women in Bahamian society.

“As one may know there were thousands of home owners, few years ago who lost their home. Some or many of them became depressed, even to the point of suicide. Many of them never recovered. Then the United States Government tried to fix the problem, by giving incentives to help homeowners, but the problem continues,” said Taylor.

He said in focusing on the three themes he sought to make people more aware of the issues facing the country.  

“Women play a very significant role in our society and also around the world. They raise our children, and encourage our men. They are the foundation of every home that exist throughout the world, and my work will continue to focus on them,” said Taylor told Tribune Arts.

“I have always been a person or artist who indulges in the feelings of individuals and social problems all around the world, which also includes my own country. Viewers differ considerably. Most of them like pretty things and pleasant things that they can live with and enjoy. I want them to think about some of the profound issues that affect us all today,” he said.

Guyana native de Caires has always used art to examine questions of living, identity and purpose of existence in a typical West Indian fashion. However in “Stories” he strayed away from socially conscious themes, opting to bring love to life in a colourful and fun installation.

“I hope the paintings and prints in this exhibition address this through the exuberance of the colour, and the way in which the colour is organised in each image. It acts as life-affirmative gestures,” de Caires told Tribune Arts.

Similar to the woodblock printing process, collagraphy print making is a process in which materials are applied to paperboard or wood. de Caires uses this process in the pieces featured in the show.

“For me, the significance of the work is twofold as my most recent work, it confirms that I am alive and still passionate about making new images and exploring colour and light. It is also the first time that I have managed to get the collagraphy print process a little bit under control, using it to more carefully to reflect my intentions,” said de Caires.

“I realised that the recent paintings and prints have the child-like simplicity that comes with old age, perhaps at last understanding the purpose of the exercise,” he said.

When his worked is viewed for the first time he hopes “like those good old-time calypsoes, viewers will get an intense sense of pleasure at exactly the same moment as they get some message that makes their mind work. And, to be truthful, I would love them to want to come back to see them again,” he told Tribune Arts.